January 27th, 2010

Work At Home Wednesday

In October of 2007 I left my office job and my wonderful DH bought me a laptop so that I could play online anywhere in the house while taking care of our three boys. Prior to getting my lovely laptop, I had an old, big HP desktop that needed lots of space, had lots of cords and basically was bulky. Good computer, but not exactly movable!

The first year of being a laptop mama, I loved the mobility! I could sit on the couch and surf the web, while nursing the baby, while the 5 yo watched tv and the 3yo played on the floor. I could take the laptop and hide in my bedroom while DH managed the kids. I could take the laptop on vacation to grandma’s house – perfect!

Then I started my business. At first everything continued to work just fine. I didn’t work that much, I opened up my computer when needed and put it away the rest of the time. Then I started getting busier, plus got hooked on Twitter, and now my laptop is on all the time. Most of my work doesn’t require paper (“real” paper anyway!) but I do use a headset frequently, and I do keep a small amount of paper for notes, and a stand for when I do transcribe from physical documents. I have ended up working from the kitchen table more and more, instead of the couch and now I realize I need to change something about my setup.

I do HAVE a proper home office setup. I just don’t like to be in the basement, which was where it fit. I store my files and paper there, I have my printer setup down there (and print wirelessly from the laptop), I keep my business books down there. Shhh, I even have two desks down there. Both are big though, and neither has a keyboard tray, and my wrists are telling me I need a more ergonomic setup. Most importantly, I want to be working in the heart of my home, near the kitchen and the living room. In short, I want a “mobile” office on my main floor that doesn’t take up much space, but is easy to work from! I tweeted about it last week actually, and my lovely friend Tamara shared that even though it’s tight she put a desk into her dining area for the same reason.

So for this week, my plan is to search for a decent and suitable small desk that I can somehow squish into my dining area or living room. Hopefully on wheels so that it can be easily shoved away into a corner when I have company.  I am thinking a trip to Ikea may be in order….(mmm, Ikea, love their meatballs!) Oh wait, stop thinking about food Laurie!

If you work from home I’d love to hear about your setup. Do you have an office? Do you use it? Do you sit at the table and pray no one spills juice near your computer?!